Deadly cyclones and repressive governments notwithstanding, our friends in mission based in southeast Asia continue to spread the love of Jesus Christ, not only through their actions, but through the written Word of God. Following is an update we received from Mark and Astrid of the Christian Far East Ministry. We met with them both, learned from them and contributed to their efforts during our Thailand Mission, earlier this year. Their work extends beyond the borders of Thailand into other southeast Asian countries ... as the following post will tell you.
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Pt. 1: Words
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Pt. 1: Words
Christian Far East Ministry reports, "below are stories from refugees and Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) of Burma. Think about these very sobering words. Meditate on them. Contemplate them. Imagine if this was happening to you and your family. People are starving, people are displaced, and people are dying, because of the treatment of the Burmese government against them. We are amazed by the strength of faith of these persecuted people."
A young girl in a village of internally displaced people (IDPs) was eating her fourth plate of food after we had brought food to her village. She said, “I’m full, but want to keep eating, because today (unlike most days) we have a good meal!”
Pastor Gideon prayed after the Christmas meeting, “This is an amazing day for us today. And we pray that from this Christmas 2008 until Christmas 2009, that we will survive.”
In one IDP camp, they built shelters to take in about 200 children from the Hurricane Nargis affected area, but they were too slow to get any children. Many children were orphaned by the Hurricane. The Burmese government did nothing to help the people, and they actively kept aid away from them. Many adults starved to death, leaving their children orphaned. The Burmese government then rounded up the orphans and drove them hundreds of miles away to the border areas. They dumped the children in towns where whoever wanted the children could just take them. Many of the children were taken and sold into the sex trade business. Could there be anything more horrifying for a child then to witness their parents’ deaths, to be alone, to be ripped from their homes, and then brutally forced into the horribly, abusive sex slave industry? There are no words to properly describe this catastrophic crime against humanity. Please pray for these children and for peace and freedom in Burma.
“Remember them … that suffer adversity …" Hebrews 13:3
Tomorrow evening, "Part 2: Pictures"
A young girl in a village of internally displaced people (IDPs) was eating her fourth plate of food after we had brought food to her village. She said, “I’m full, but want to keep eating, because today (unlike most days) we have a good meal!”
Pastor Gideon prayed after the Christmas meeting, “This is an amazing day for us today. And we pray that from this Christmas 2008 until Christmas 2009, that we will survive.”
In one IDP camp, they built shelters to take in about 200 children from the Hurricane Nargis affected area, but they were too slow to get any children. Many children were orphaned by the Hurricane. The Burmese government did nothing to help the people, and they actively kept aid away from them. Many adults starved to death, leaving their children orphaned. The Burmese government then rounded up the orphans and drove them hundreds of miles away to the border areas. They dumped the children in towns where whoever wanted the children could just take them. Many of the children were taken and sold into the sex trade business. Could there be anything more horrifying for a child then to witness their parents’ deaths, to be alone, to be ripped from their homes, and then brutally forced into the horribly, abusive sex slave industry? There are no words to properly describe this catastrophic crime against humanity. Please pray for these children and for peace and freedom in Burma.“Remember them … that suffer adversity …" Hebrews 13:3
Tomorrow evening, "Part 2: Pictures"
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